Dreaming is Believing
by cnr526
Summary: Dreamland is a place where reality dies and all your senses come alive. When Chloe Beale's best friend Aubrey drags her along to this mystifying place, Chloe can't help but feel that something isn't quite right. As Dreamland draws Chloe in, her life becomes entangled with one of Dreamland's performers. Will she be able to hang on to love while still holding on to reality?
1. Chapter 1

"I promise, Chlo. You're going to like it. It's like nothing you've ever experienced before."

Chloe Beale nervously thumbed the small rigid edges of the black and silver ticket stub she held in her hand, her finger sliding back and forth over the tiny paper spikes until the sensitive skin began to grow numb. She looked over her shoulder at the line of people behind her, her pupils growing larger in the clear blue rings of her eyes as she took it all in. The line stretched so far back over the deserted field they were standing in that the end of it was out of Chloe's eye line. She bit her lip, wondering what she was about to get herself into.

A cool hand placed itself firmly over Chloe's, stopping her thumb's frenetic movement.

"Did you hear what I said?"

Chloe's best friend Aubrey Posen was staring at her with a pointed look in her fierce green eyes and a hand cocked on her hip.

Chloe blinked.

"Um... Sorry, no. What did you say?"

Aubrey just rolled her eyes, removing her hand from Chloe's and placing it on her other hip.

"Distracted much? What's the matter?"

"Uh... nothing's the matter." Chloe replied noncommittally. "I'm just a little surprised that you'd be into something like this."

"And I'm a little surprised that you're not more excited for it!" Aubrey retorted. "Come on, Chlo. You're like the queen of being up for anything! What's the deal?"

Chloe apprehensively eyed the circus-like tent set up about thirty feet in front of her. There wasn't a red or white stripe in sight; the tent was made of some slick-looking black material, more fluid than canvas, which shimmered when it was viewed from a certain standpoint. The fabric was heavily layered and held up by a scaffolding of some sort. The metal poles were placed at strange and jutting angles that didn't seem to have any rhyme or reason. It was impossible to tell just how big the structure was. A small, rectangular black sign reading "Sweet Dreams" in looping silver script marked the entrance.

"I'm just a little nervous." Chloe admitted. "I mean, from what you've told me…"

A sudden hush swept over the crowd as a man stepped out of the entrance of the tent. His appearance made Chloe's heart stutter. She glanced over at Aubrey whose normally serious face was lit up with a look of euphoria. Chloe subtly glanced around her, noting that almost everyone in line had the same exact look on their face as Aubrey. A strange feeling of unease washed over her as she turned back around to listen to the man speak.

He was dressed in a top hat, a fitted button down shirt, dress pants, and shoes that Chloe could tell were expensive even from where she was standing.

"Welcome..." he drawled, a slow smile stretching over his face. "...To Dreamland." He took a pause for dramatic effect, letting the words sink in.

"What you will experience inside of Dreamland will be like nothing you have ever experienced before. All of your senses will be heightened. You will have no connection to reality. There are those who claim that once you have experienced the delights that Dreamland holds, the world outside- the "real" world- will never be anything more than a bleak shadow. A ghost of what you have experienced inside of Dreamland. Enter at your own risk." That slow smile crept up onto his face again as he beckoned the crowd inside with a curl of his pointer finger.

Chloe clutched Aubrey's forearm with cold, nervous fingers.

"Aubrey, I'm not so sure about this. I think I'm just going to go."

She took a step backwards but Aubrey yanked her back.

"Chloe, you are not backing out now. I don't know why you're freaking out, but I'm not going to let you miss out on something like this just because you're a little nervous, okay?"

Chloe swallowed thickly and allowed herself to be led by Aubrey to the opening of the tent. Once they stepped through the thick black curtains, Chloe found herself standing in a long, thankfully well-lit hallway. The man with the top hat was standing at the far end of it with his back against of another set of black curtains. He waited for the line of people to shuffle in before speaking. He clapped his hands twice and the sound seemed to reverberate as if the hallway had amplified the volume. Any talking that had been going on stopped immediately.

"I will be your last connection with reality." He said simply. He turned around to face the curtains and when he turned back, every ounce of light in the hallway vanished. Chloe's heart dropped. She was too scared to scream. When her eyes adjusted she realized that the man in the top hat was now shirtless, his face and torso glowing from some sort of intricately painted design on his body. Chloe had never seen anything like it before. He stepped backwards through the curtains and the line of people began to follow his lead. Chloe clutched her best friend's hand in a vise-like grip. There was no going back now.


	2. Chapter 2

Chloe stepped into a small, square room, with dark carpeting covering the walls and floor. Her senses were immediately hit with an overload of sights and sounds. There were small shapes cut out of the walls and through them, frenetic beams of light shot colors across the room, darting so quickly from one place to another that standing in one place made Chloe feel jumpy. She began to walk around, her limbs feeling heavy and her mind beginning to turn foggy as the lights shot so quickly across her vision that it almost felt like she was being fired at. The temperature in the room was warm. It was the kind of warmth that could coax you into a gentle sleep if you sat in one spot long enough. Chloe's fingers brushed against the wall as she walked forward, and she stopped in her tracks as her body registered the feeling. She reached out and brushed her entire palm against the wall, staring at her hand in wonder. She had never felt anything so soft in her entire life. It was almost like the texture was otherworldly. It was certainly indescribable. She was beginning to understand Aubrey's claim that Dreamland would be like nothing she had ever experienced.

There was music playing, though Chloe hadn't felt completely aware of it until just now, when she realized just how much trouble she was having keeping her thoughts in one place. The music was so loud that she couldn't think, couldn't focus or dissect what was happening to her body and her mind. There were no speakers in sight, but music filled the small room like it was floating directly from the walls. The song sounded familiar somehow, but her thoughts were so jumbled and unfocused that she couldn't even tell what genre of music it was. It was like this room had sucked all the thought out of her brain and left her only with feeling. She felt herself moving forward until she found herself at the edge of a doorway. There didn't seem to be anything but blackness beyond the doorway, for some reason, she knew she had to step through it. When she did, she felt her entire body jerk forward as if she had been abruptly wakened from a dream, and suddenly all of her senses were sharp again, everything perfectly clear.

The difference in how she felt from just one second ago in the other room was jarring. There was no fogginess or heaviness, only a crisp feeling and clear view of everything around her. And what was around her was spectacular. There was no music, only the soft sound of tiny waves lapping against the sides of the colossal, rectangular swimming pool taking up the majority of space in the room. The room was styled like some sort of ancient Grecian palace with sand colored walls and pillars lining the swimming pool. This room was slightly cooler than the room before it, but it was bright like the sun had somehow been stolen from the sky and placed inside of this room. It was strange. Chloe didn't even see any lights coming out of the ceiling. It just seemed to be emanating from the space around her. She didn't know what the point of this room was, a wake up call from the other room perhaps? But whatever it was, it made her feel good. She slowly strolled around the pool, taking in the calming effects that it seemed to be having on her. She didn't even realize that there were other people around. And they didn't seem to notice her either. By the time she reached the doorway to the next room, she was practically shaking from the anticipation. She couldn't remember a time when she had felt so alive, or so excited.

She stepped through the darkened doorway, and the first thing she was hit with was a wave of some potently sweet smelling perfume. She inhaled deeply, closing her eyes and she took in the scent. This too was like nothing she had ever experienced before. Maybe it was just because her senses were heightened from the previous rooms, but she was pretty sure she had never smelled anything so good in her entire life. It was sweet, but not the kind of sweet like cotton candy. If she had to compare it to something it might have been something closer to what she would find in a bakery. But spicier maybe. And maybe more floral. It was… indescribable. Impossible to put a label on. The smell, for some reason made her pulse race. Her blood suddenly felt hot in her body. That was strange. She had never had a reaction like that to a smell.

The room was circular with pale lavender floors and walls that looked like there was some sort of foggy vapor swirling just below the surface. There was music playing, some sort of beautiful melody that didn't sound like it was being played on any instrument that Chloe had ever heard before. The room was just bigger than the first room with ceilings a few feet higher. When she looked up to the ceiling, she was shocked to see that there was a girl up there. The girl was climbing a thick line of dark purple fabric, twisting her legs in the material to secure herself. Once she reached the top of the fabric she stopped moving, and in the next heart-stopping second, she was dropping from the ceiling, her body twisted over and over again in the fabric, unwinding herself at breakneck speed until she came to a jerking stop, her body hovering approximately ten inches off the ground.

Chloe swallowed thickly, letting out the breath she had been holding as her heart beat wildly out of her chest. She had never seen anything like that in her entire life. She couldn't take her eyes off the girl, who was now climbing back up the silky fabric, this time stopping just a few feet over Chloe's head. She was twisting her body into positions that could be considered contortion, but was doing it so gracefully that to Chloe it looked like she was dancing. She would hold a pose for a few seconds before wrapping herself up in the silk a different way and stretching her body into a new pose. Chloe was beginning to feel even more drugged than when she was in the first room. Her heart had barely slowed a beat since the acrobat's drop, her cheeks felt flushed and her breath was still shallow. All of her senses were heightened, but in a much different way than when she was in the first room.

Chloe couldn't take her eyes off the acrobat. She had no idea how long she had been standing there watching her, but she was pretty sure she could stand there for hours at a time and still not get enough. The acrobat was physically small, from what Chloe could tell she was a lot tinier than her own 5'4 frame. She had light brown hair, which was twisted up and pulled away from her face. A face which had an elfin like delicacy to its features with eyes that were a dark, indiscernible color, a chin that was pointed, and pale, clear skin. A collection of small earrings lined the edges of the acrobat's ears. For some reason, Chloe wanted to run her fingers along them.

Chloe continued to stare. And then, the craziest thing happened; the acrobat looked at her. Locked eyes with her and held her gaze, and for the first time since Chloe had walked into the room, the acrobat stopped moving on the fabric. She stared at Chloe in the same way that Chloe had been staring at her for the past, God only knew how long. Chloe felt her blood grow even hotter in her body. The acrobat's eyes on her made her feel like her entire body was melting. This feeling was by far the most overwhelming of the night. It was like nothing she had ever felt in her entire life. Whoever this beautiful acrobat was had just unknowingly changed Chloe Beale's life.


End file.
